“You like saying ‘dui’ a lot, don’t you....”

On Monday, I had an amazing lie-in and didn’t dread going to teach for 6 hours because I’M ON WINTER BREAK! Instead, I had a lazy morning (mostly consisting of washing, drying and straightening my hair to then put it up because I walked too fast and it went curly), and then met Brooke at Mann Waffle and Toast. I resisted ordering a waffle or French toast (it was very difficult) and instead settled with a cappuccino. However, Henry, the waiter, only brought my drink over and not Brooke’s and we struggled to make him realise this. Thankyou to the Chinese women opposite us who told Henry of his mistake and managed to get Brooke her coffee. Stupid Henry - we weren't going to share a coffee #cheapskate.

How pretty...

After a chilled few hours drinking coffee, we realise that we should probably get some dinner and headed to Jiedaokou, one of my favourite areas of Wuchang for food. We got mala xiang guo – a dry, pick-your-own pot of food. The staff found two western people picking various meats and vegetables quite a sight and watched us intently. We successfully chose our food, ordered rice and drinks and then waited for it to cook. There was a slight issue when the dish arrived covered in peanuts (had even used my Chinese dictionary app to state no peanuts) but I didn’t die so it’s fine. Later on, we both went home and I Skyped my sister before going to sleep.

Brooke and I with our mala xiang guo

On Tuesday, I went for coffee with my New Zealand neighbour, Marianna. She took me to a café on my university campus, which I’d never even seen because my campus is ridiculously large. The café, Figaro, is owned by people from the Philippines and was nice and quiet. I ordered a cappuccino and oreo cake (it was literally incredible) and she told me all about New Zealand, which now makes me want to visit! My afternoon was less enthralling, as I had to translate ‘bathroom leak’ to my maintenance man, who then ventured off to order the part, and then plan my tutoring lessons.

Cappucino and oreo cake

My evening involved catching up with Broadchurch – OMG!!- and watching Esio Trot. It really didn’t help with my yearning for a tortoise. In the evening, I Skyped my mum so we could go through some of the things she is bringing with her to China (in less than two weeks!!) and it’s safe to say that my dad has about 750 grams of luggage allowance. Sorry about that dad, but my need for Yorkshire tea and Dairy Milk is far more important.

Wednesday was supposed to be a productive morning of cleaning my apartment but I decided to sleep in until 11.30am instead. Cue a mad rush of cleaning and having a shower before meeting up with Brooke, Carly, Paul and Marie. Luckily, they came to my neighbourhood, which bought me some more time, and I took them to my favourite drinks shop and favourite restaurant. The restaurant is a typical Chinese one, with a menu in Chinese characters and no one that speaks English. I amazed myself in my successful ordering of 5 dishes and then Marie wrote it all down. If I am ever in doubt over Chinese translation, I just say ‘dui’, which means yes. I use this word a lot, so much so that Paul actually commented about my over usage of the word. Whoops. The food was incredible as always and then, with major food babies (because it was kinda too good to leave any), we went back to mine.

Our incredible food

Closest thing I've had to chips in months!

Marie, Paul, Brooke, Carley and I

Meat drying everywhere!

Me and Carley (I'm holding my chopsticks because I just want to eat)

We spent the afternoon relaxing and chatting over copious cups of tea (PG tips you’re a winner), and then watched a film called ‘A Lonely Place to Die’, which was good but very unexpected. Finally, we grabbed some tung bao (little meatball bread things) near to my apartment and then I went home to relax.

Tung bao

Thursday came around far too quickly, and I woke up late after another lie-in. My sleeping pattern is ruined already. I went to help Marianna pack up her apartment because she is leaving to go back home, and she gave me loads of freebies! I got a heater, blender, books, doormat, tons of food, new boots and some other things. It was like Christmas for my apartment! In the evening, after researching soup recipes (was supposed to be planning my classes for next semester), I went to tutor my children and they were very cute. I’m currently trying to teach them days of the week and months of the year, but they’re too interested in watching the stories and songs to actually say the words!

Procrastinating at it's finest

Dumplings with hot sauce and potatoes

I woke up on Friday morning extremely excited because I was going to the zoo! I met Will at my subway stop and we headed over to Hanjiang, another district in Wuhan. Currently in Wuhan, they are aiming to expand and finish the subway by completing one subway line a year. So far, line 1 and 2 are finished and they have just opened all of line 4, which meant we could get straight to the zoo! The zoo was amazing, especially the circus where I saw two monkeys racing each other on BMX bikes. I also had a picture with a zebra and saw Wei Wei the panda, who pretended to sleep and then when people walked off would start getting up and showing off! I also had an ice cream because it was sunny and it had real pieces of mango in it. Definitely one of my five-a-day.

The new metro

Navigating our way around (was all in Chinese!)

Wei Wei <3

Monkey on a goat!

Two monkeys riding bikes

Watching the circus show

Got to pet a zebra!

Moshui lake surrounding the zoo

Highly unimpressed at my picture being taken with the back end of a rhino

Peacock chilling in the rhino enclosure

Oh Wei Wei

Later on, we headed home and realised that it was after 3pm and we’d forgotten about lunch. After nipping to my university (to get a new part for my bathroom), we went to a ramen noodle restaurant. I had pork rib and bamboo ramen and you got a ladle to eat it with! I had stupidly worn boots that hurt my feet after a few hours, so had to take a taxi home and then get my bathroom leak fixed. After 4 months of potential flooding every time I used my sink, my bathroom, floor is now water free! Friday evening involved me lying on my bed in an exhausted state because seeing animals is tiring work, and eating crackers.

Pork rib and bamboo ramen - complete with ladle to eat!

The weekend soon rolled around and after an amazing 13-hour sleep on Friday night, I found myself doing odd jobs all day Saturday. You know the ones, which you don’t want to do but then you complete them all and feel super productive. Bedding changed, floor mopped, admin done and tutoring lessons planned, I headed out for some food – cai mala tong = vegetable noodles. You pick your vegetables (and meat, tofu etc if you want them), then choose your noodles and finally, the level of spice.

Volunteering was good as I got to see Mr and Mrs Mai after their holiday to America and found myself chatting to a young boy, about 10 years old, who’s English was amazing. He told me all about his science lessons and how he is studying the pH scale. On my way home, I picked up a few cushions for my apartment and then watched a movie before bed.

Today, I'm going to meet up with Marie and then we're walking to Han Jien (a street with Western shops). She's informed me that it will take about an hour so in true athlete preparation, I'm going to meet her for some food before we set off. I've even done a few stretches to make sure I don't pull a muscle a mile down the road. Marks and Spencer 'Percy pig' sweets, I'm coming for you.......